The present invention relates to a portable device for use in a retail establishment for transferring indicia from a carrier onto a flexible article by the application of heat thereto.
The application of indicia such as identifying lettering or numbers and designs to flexible articles such as duffel bags, tote bags, articles of clothing and the like has usually been accomplished heretofore upon purchase of the article in a retail establishment by either ink stenciling or monogramming by embroidery or by ironing individual letters onto the article. Although ink stenciling of indicia onto flexible articles accomplished the purpose intended, this technique was somewhat laborious and required special stenciling equipment and ink that necessitated appropriate skills on the part of the individual who applied the indicia to the flexible article. Some commercial processes for imprinting indicia or designs on flexible articles also accomplished the purpose intended, but necessarily had to be performed at a location where appropriate equipment was available for use. This kind of equipment was obviously complicated and expensive and could not be employed in a retail establishment.
Prior to the instant invention some efforts have been made to employ transfer printing techniques that utilized heat for transferring indicia to flexible articles. This technique had certain advantages in that the indicia as transferred was relatively permanent as applied, but the indicia had to be individually transferred usually with a hand iron and was not only laborious but produced inconsistent and unsatisfactory results. Other devices known heretofore have also utilized the heat transfer principle for transferring indicia onto flexible articles, but these devices were relatively complicated and expensive, which economically prohibited the wide spread use thereof.